NASA has been desperately trying to use the “mole” attached its InSight Mars lander to bury into the Martian soil for more than 17 long months, but progress has been slow.

The Martian soil composition just wasn’t what the scientists expected, forcing them to improvise.

In the latest update, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory outlined how the 16-inch, jackhammer-like mole, formally known as the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (or HP3), encountered its latest obstacle.